Native American Actors
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This is a list of Native American actors in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, including
Alaskan Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlin ...
s. While Native American identity can be complex, it is rooted in political sovereignty that predates the creation of colonial nation states like the United States, Canada, and Mexico and persists into the 21st century recognized under international law by treaty. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
defines ''Native American'' as having American Indian or
Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...
ancestry. Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a
federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...
, including Alaskan villages. Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity. All individuals on this list should have confirmed Native American ancestry. Historical figures might predate tribal enrollment practices and would be included based on ethnological tribal membership, while any
contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...
individuals should either be enrolled members of federally recognized tribes or have cited Native American ancestry and be recognized as being Native American by their respective tribes(s). Contemporary unenrolled individuals should only be listed as being ''of descent'' from a tribe if they have confirmed heritage.


A

* Victor Aaron (1956–1996),
Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language. Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the no ...
descent *
Apesanahkwat Apesanahkwat (born January 19, 1949) is a Native American tribal leader, activist, father, and film and television actor. Apesanahkwat served as tribal chairman of the Menominee Indian Reservation eight times. He served in the United States Mar ...
, Menominee Nation * Nathan Apodaca (
Northern Arapaho The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone (, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho (). Roughly east to west b ...
/
Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
), actor, TikTok star


B

*
Dewey Beard Dewey Beard or Wasú Máza ("Iron Hail", 1858–1955) was a Minneconjou Lakota who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn as a teenager. After George Armstrong Custer's defeat, Wasu Maza followed Sitting Bull into exile in Canada and then bac ...
a.k.a. Iron Hail,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
,
Miniconjou The Miniconjou (Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people The Lakota (; or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people. ...
*
Irene Bedard Irene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is an American actress, who has played mostly Native American lead roles in a variety of films. She is perhaps best known for the role of Suzy Song in the 1998 film '' Smoke Signals'', an adaptation of a Sherm ...
, Inupiaq *
Chief John Big Tree Chief John Big Tree (born Isaac Johnny John, June 2, 1877 – July 6, 1967) was a member of the Seneca Nation and an actor who appeared in 59 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in Buffalo, New York and died in Onondaga Indian Reserva ...
,
Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...
*
Moses Brings Plenty Moses J. Brings Plenty (born September 4, 1969) is an Oglala Lakota television, film, and stage actor, as well as a traditional drummer and singer. He is best known for his portrayal as Mo in the Paramount Network series ''Yellowstone''.Melmer, D ...
,
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning 'to scatter one's own' in Lakota language, Lakota) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A ...
*
Cole Brings Plenty Moses J. Brings Plenty (born September 4, 1969) is an Oglala Lakota television, film, and stage actor, as well as a traditional drummer and singer. He is best known for his portrayal as Mo in the Paramount Network series ''Yellowstone''.Melmer, D ...
, nephew of Moses


C

*
Tonantzin Carmelo Tonantzin Carmelo is an American actress. She is known for her acting roles in film, TV and stage productions including in the Steven Spielberg miniseries, '' Into the West'', for which she received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstand ...
,
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...
/
Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...
descent *
Casey Camp-Horinek Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station * Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * ...
(
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma The Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, also known as the Ponca Nation, is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ponca people. The other is the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Traditionally, peoples of both tribes have spoken the Omaha-Ponca langu ...
), activist, speaker, actor *
Alaqua Cox Alaqua Cox (born February 13, 1997) is a Native American (Menominee) actress. She landed her breakthrough roleher first ever acting experienceas Maya Lopez / Echo within the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Disney+ series '' Hawkeye'' (2021), c ...
,
Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...
/
Mohican The Mohicans ( or ) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, whose indigenous territory was ...


D

*
Cody Deal Cody Austin Deal (born February 14, 1986) is an American actor in film and television. He is best known for his role as Thor in the direct to cable Syfy original movie ''Almighty Thor''. He starred alongside Richard Grieco, Patricia Velasquez, a ...
(born 1986),
Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...


E

*
Chris Eyre Chris Eyre (born 1968), an enrolled citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, is a Native American film director and producer. Early life and education Chris Eyre was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Klamath Falls by his adoptive ...
,
Southern Cheyenne The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma. History The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Ts ...
director and producer


F

*
Abel Fernandez Abel Gonzalez Fernandez (July 14, 1930 – May 3, 2016) was an American actor who played in movies from 1953 to 2002. He was best known for his role as Federal Agent William "Bill" Youngfellow on the 1959–1963 ABC Television series ''The Unto ...
(1930–2016),
Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language. Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the no ...
descent *
Sydney Freeland Sydney Freeland (born October 29, 1980) is a Native American filmmaker. She is a citizen of the Navajo Nation. She wrote and directed the film '' Drunktown's Finest'' (2014), which garnered numerous acclaims after premiering at the Sundance Film ...
(
Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...
), director, filmmaker, producer, writer


G

*
Lily Gladstone Lily Gladstone (born August 2, 1986) is an American actress. Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation, Gladstone is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage. She earned critical acclaim for portraying Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman who sur ...
,
Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation (, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana. Tribal members primarily belong ...
/
Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...
descent actress *
Dallas Goldtooth Dallas Goldtooth (Mdewakanton Dakota/Diné, born May 3, 1983) is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American (Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Sioux) environmental activist and performing artist. He is a co-founding member of t ...
(
Mdewakanton Dakota The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan (also spelled ''Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'' and currently pronounced ''Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'') are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota (Sioux). Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake (Dakota: ''Mde Wá ...
/
Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...
)) *
Forrest Goodluck Forrest Goodluck (born August 6, 1998) is a Native American actor. Since his debut as Hugh Glass's son Hawk in the 2015 film '' The Revenant'', his film roles have included Adam Red Eagle, a two-spirit teenager sent to a conversion therapy camp ...
,
Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
*
Kiowa Gordon Kiowa Joseph Gordon is a Native American actor of Hualapai heritage. He is best known for his role as shapeshifter Embry Call in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga,'' as well as Junior in the TV series ''The Red Road (TV series ...
(
Hualapai The Hualapai ( , ) are a federally recognized Native American tribe in Arizona with about 2300 enrolled citizens. Approximately 1353 enrolled citizens reside on the Hualapai Reservation, which spans over three counties in Northern Arizona ( Coc ...
) * Rodney A. Grant,
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
*
Saginaw Grant Saginaw Morgan Grant (July 20, 1936 – July 27, 2021) was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American character actor. He appeared in ''The Lone Ranger (2013 film), The Lone Ranger'', ''The World's Fastest Indian'', ''Community (TV ...
,
Sac and Fox Nation The Sac and Fox Nation (Sauk language: Thâkîwaki) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox) Indian peoples. They are based in central Oklahoma. Originally from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan area, they ...
*
Elva Guerra Elva Guerra (born 2004) is an American actor best known for their role as Jackie in ''Reservation Dogs'' (2021–2023). Other major roles have included Sally Growing Thunder in ''Dark Winds''. They also gave voice to the lead character Anna Horn ...
(Ponca/Mexican-American), actor *
Kimberly Norris Guerrero Kimberly Norris Guerrero (née Norris; born 1967), is an American actress and screenwriter. She has over two dozen screen appearances, generally playing roles of Indigenous women. Norris played Gen. Custer's American Indian wife in the movie '' ...
, Colville (enrolled),
Salish-Kootenai The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (Montana Salish: Séliš u Ql̓ispé, Kutenai: k̓upawiȼq̓nuk) are a federally recognized tribe in the U.S. state of Montana. The government includes members of seve ...
descent


H

*
Sterlin Harjo Sterlin Harjo (born November 14, 1979)Sam Lewin, , ''Native Times News'', reprinted in ''Canku Ota'', May 24, 2004 (article gives his age as 24 in 2004). is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American filmmaker from Oklahoma. He is ...
(Seminole/Muscogee) actor, comedian, director, writer *
Charlie Hill Charles Allan Hill (July 6, 1951 – December 30, 2013) was a comedian and actor. Hill was one of the first Native Americans in the United States, Native American Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians to appear on major television shows such as ' ...
,
Oneida Nation The Oneida Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Oneida people in Wisconsin. The tribe's reservation spans parts of two counties west of the Green Bay metropolitan area. The reservation was established by treaty in 1838, and was allotted to ...
,
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people (Kanien’kehá:ka), an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language (Kanien’kéha), the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a ...
,
Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
*
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse (born April 28, 1976), also known as Nathan Chasing Horse and Nathan Chases His Horse, is a Sicangu Lakota people, Lakota actor. Born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation and enrolled in the tribe, he has spent most of ...
, Rosebud Lakota *
Jack Hoxie John Hartford Hoxie (January 11, 1885 – March 28, 1965) was an American rodeo performer and motion-picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s. Hoxie is best recalled for his roles in ...
,
Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...
*
Miko Hughes Miko John Hughes (born February 22, 1986) is an American actor known for his film roles as a child, such as Gage Creed in ''Pet Sematary'' (1989), '' Kindergarten Cop'' (1990), ''Apollo 13'' (1995), '' Spawn'' (1997), '' Mercury Rising'' (1998) ...
,
Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
* Blu Hunt - American actress,
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning 'to scatter one's own' in Lakota language, Lakota) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A ...


I

* Iron Hail, a.k.a.
Dewey Beard Dewey Beard or Wasú Máza ("Iron Hail", 1858–1955) was a Minneconjou Lakota who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn as a teenager. After George Armstrong Custer's defeat, Wasu Maza followed Sitting Bull into exile in Canada and then bac ...
,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
,
Miniconjou The Miniconjou (Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people The Lakota (; or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people. ...


J

*
Devery Jacobs Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (born August 8, 1993) is a Mohawk actress. For her performance in '' Rhymes for Young Ghouls'' (2013), she garnered a Canadian Screen Awards nomination for Best Actress. In 2023 and 2024, for her role on ''Reservation ...
(Kahnawà:ke Mohawk) * Ben Johnson,
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
, grew up on an Osage reservation


K

* Oscar Kawagley,
Yup'ik The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik ( own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an ...
*
Geraldine Keams Geraldine Keams (born August 19, 1951) is a Navajo actress. She is best known for her work in numerous television series, often playing a maternal role. Biography Keams was born on August 19, 1951, in Flagstaff, Arizona. She was raised on the Na ...
(
Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...
), actor *
Stepfanie Kramer Stepfanie Kramer (born August 6, 1956) is an American actress. She is probably best known for her role as the tough-minded detective, "Sgt. Dee Dee McCall," on the NBC TV series ''Hunter''. She has been nominated for an Emmy in Special Class Pro ...
,
Eastern Band Cherokee The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, ''Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi'') is a federally recognized Indian tribe based in western North Carolina in the United States. They are descended from the small ...


L

*
Eddie Little Sky Eddie Little Sky (August 15, 1926 – September 5, 1997), also known as Edward Little, was an American actor. A citizen of the Oglala Lakota tribe Eddie had parts in 36 feature films and over 60 television shows,''Indian Country Today'', retrie ...
,
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning 'to scatter one's own' in Lakota language, Lakota) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A ...
*
Phil Lucas Phil Lucas (1942 – February 4, 2007) was an American filmmaker of mostly Native American themes. He was an actor, writer, producer, director and editor for more than 100 films/documentaries or television programs starting as early as 1979 whe ...
,
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...
filmmaker, actor, writer, producer, director, and editor


M

*
Randolph Mantooth Randolph Mantooth (born Randy DeRoy Mantooth, September 19, 1945) is an American actor who has worked in television, documentaries, theater, and film for more than 50 years. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he was discovere ...
,
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...
*
Trixie Mattel Brian Michael Firkus (born August 23, 1989), better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, makeup entrepreneur, DJ and singer-songwriter originally from Silver Cliff, Wisconsin, Silver Cliff, Ma ...
,
Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
descent * Robin Maxkii, Stockbridge-Munsee, actress *
Zahn McClarnon Zahn Tokiya-ku McClarnon is a Native American actor. Since 2022, he has played the lead role of Joe Leaphorn in the AMC series ''Dark Winds'', of which he is also an executive producer. He first came to prominence with key supporting performanc ...
,
Hunkpapa Lakota The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...
, actor *
Russell Means Russell Charles Means (; November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician and writer. He became a prominent member of the American Indi ...
,
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning 'to scatter one's own' in Lakota language, Lakota) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A ...
, activist, actor *
Tatanka Means Tatanka Wanbli Sapa Xila Sabe Means (born February 19, 1985) is an American actor and comedian, of Oglala Lakota, Omaha, Yankton Dakota, and Diné descent. He is best known for his roles in '' Killers of the Flower Moon'' and'' The Son''. Actin ...
,
Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
*
Amber Midthunder Amber Midthunder (born April 26, 1997) is an American actress. She had regular roles in the FX series ''Legion'' and The CW series ''Roswell, New Mexico'', and also appeared on '' Longmire'', ''Banshee'', and ''Reservation Dogs''. In 2022, she ...
(
Fort Peck Sioux The Fort Peck Indian Reservation (, ) is located near Fort Peck, Montana, in the northeast part of the state. It is the home of several federally recognized bands of Assiniboine, Lakota, and Dakota peoples of Native Americans. With a total la ...
) *
Cara Jade Myers Cara Jade Myers is an American actress and writer known for her breakout performance in Martin Scorsese's ''Killers of the Flower Moon'' (2023). She is an enrolled citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and a Kiowa descendant. Early life B ...
( Wichita/
Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...
), actor


O

*
Sierra Teller Ornelas Sierra Nizhoni Teller Ornelas (Navajo, born March 3, 1981)@sierraornelas (March 3, 2024). https://twitter.com/sierraornelas/status/1764361410283254156/photo/1 Retrieved 21 April 2024. is a Native American showrunner, screenwriter, filmmaker and si ...
(
Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...
), writer


P

* Migizi Pensoneau (
Ponca The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...
/
Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
)), actor, comedian, writer * Jon Proudstar (
Pascua Yaqui The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona is a federally recognized tribe of Yaqui Native Americans in the state of Arizona. Descended from the Yaqui people whose original homelands include the Yaqui River valley in western Sonora, Mexico and southe ...
)


Q


R

*
Arthur Redcloud Arthur Redcloud is a Native American actor, known for his role as Hikuc in the 2015 film '' The Revenant''. Early life Redcloud is Navajo and grew up in Window Rock, Arizona, on the Navajo reservation. He attended Haskell Indian Nations Universit ...
,
Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
* Ryan RedCorn (
Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...
) *
Red Shirt (Oglala) Red Shirt (Oglala Lakota: ''Ógle Ša'' in Standard Lakota Orthography) (c. 1847 – January 4, 1925) was an Oglala Lakota, Oglala Lakota People, Lakota chief, warrior and statesman. Red Shirt supported Crazy Horse during the Great Sioux War of 1 ...
,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
* Red Wing, (Lillian St. Cyr),
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska () is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ho-Chunk, along with the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Tribe members often identify as ''Hoocągra'', meaning "People of the Parent Speech" in their own language. It ...
*
Steve Reevis Steven Reevis (August 14, 1962 – December 7, 2017) was a Native American (Blackfeet) actor who had roles in the films '' Fargo'', ''Last of the Dogmen'', and '' Dances with Wolves''. Early life and education Steve Reevis was born on August 1 ...
,
Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation (, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana. Tribal members primarily belong ...
*
Branscombe Richmond Branscombe Richmond (born August 8, 1955) is an American character actor and stuntman. He is known for his starring role of Bobby Sixkiller on the American syndicated drama series, '' Renegade'' (1992–1997), and for his starring roles on the ...
,
Aleut Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...
*
Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
(1879–1935),
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
, film and vaudeville actor, movie producer *
Ned Romero Ned Romero (December 4, 1926 – November 4, 2017) was an American actor and opera singer who appeared in television and film. Early childhood and education Romero was born on December 4, 1926, in Franklin, Louisiana, the seat of St. Mary P ...
, film and television actor,
Chitimacha The Chitimacha ( ; or ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands in Louisiana. They are a federally recognized tribe, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana. The Chitimacha have an Indian reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charento ...
* Lois Red Elk, enrolled member of the Ft. Peck Sioux in Montana.


S

*
Frank Salsedo Frank Sotonoma "Grey Wolf" Salsedo (May 20, 1929 – July 3, 2009) was a Native American actor. He was often cast in smaller parts centered on his Native American heritage. As an actor, Salsedo has performed in movies such as '' The Ghost Dance ...
,
Wappo The Wappo (endonym: ''Micewal'') are an Indigenous people of northern California. Their traditional homelands are in Napa Valley, the south shore of Clear Lake, Alexander Valley, and Russian River valley. They are distantly related to the Yu ...
*
Jana Schmieding Jana Schmieding is a Native American (Cheyenne River Lakota) comedian, actor, podcaster, and writer. She is best known for her roles hosting the podcast ''Woman of Size'', and as a writer and actor on the sitcom '' Rutherford Falls'', and an act ...
( Cheyenne River Lakota), actor *
Will Sampson William Sampson Jr. (September 27, 1933 – June 3, 1987) was a Muscogee Nation painter, actor, and rodeo performer. He is best known for his performance as the apparently mute Chief Bromden in the 1975 film '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ...
,
Muscogee (Creek) Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...
*
Larry Sellers Larry Sellers (October 2, 1949 – December 9, 2021) was an Osage American actor and stuntman. Background Sellers was born in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where he grew up. After graduating high school, he joined the U.S. Navy. Acting career Sell ...
, Osage,
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
* Martin Sensmeier (
Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...
/
Koyukon Athabascan The Koyukon, Dinaa, or Denaa ( Denaakk'e: ''Tl’eeyegge Hut’aane'') are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they sub ...
), *
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...
,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
,
Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...
* John Sitting Bull,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
,
Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...
*
William Sitting Bull William Sitting Bull ( – 8 December 1909) was a son of Sitting Bull. Biography William Sitting Bull was a natural son of Sitting Bull, his mother was Four-Robes-Woman. He was born in what is today southern Manitoba, Canada, or in northeas ...
,
Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
,
Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...
*
Charles Soldani Charles Leon Soldani (June 1, 1893 – September 10, 1968) was a Native American film and television actor. He appeared – often uncredited – in dozens of Western movies and television series, usually playing an Indian warrior or chief. He ...
, Osage and Kaw actor *
Eddie Spears Edward Spears (born November 29, 1982) is an Indigenous American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wičaša Oyate Lakota from the Lower Brulé Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. Early life Spears was born in Chamberlain, South Dakota, near the Lower ...
,
Brulé The Sicangu are one of the seven ''oyates'', nations or council fires, of Lakota people, an Indigenous people of the Northern Plains. Today, many Sicangu people are enrolled citizens of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation ...
*
Michael Spears Michael Spears (born December 28, 1977) is an Indigenous American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wičaša Lakota from the Lower Brulé Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. Early life Michael Spears was born in Chamberlain, South Dakota near the Lower ...
,
Brulé The Sicangu are one of the seven ''oyates'', nations or council fires, of Lakota people, an Indigenous people of the Northern Plains. Today, many Sicangu people are enrolled citizens of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation ...
*
Chaske Spencer Chaske Spencer is an American actor. He gained prominence through his role as List of Twilight characters#Sam Uley, Sam Uley in the ''The Twilight Saga (film series), Twilight'' films (2009–2012). For his performance in the BBC and Amazon Prim ...
,
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...
/
Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...
/
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
/
Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...
descent *
Luther Standing Bear Luther Standing Bear (Óta Kté or "Plenty Kill," also known as Matȟó Nážiŋ or "Standing Bear", 1868 – 1939) was a Sicangu and Oglala Lakota author, educator, philosopher, and actor. He worked to preserve Lakota culture and sovereignty, an ...
,
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning 'to scatter one's own' in Lakota language, Lakota) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A ...
author and actor *
Wes Studi Wesley Studi (; born December 17, 1947) is a Native American (Cherokee Nation) actor and film producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and awards throughout his career, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. In 2019, he ...
,
Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...


T

*
Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...
,
Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation (Sauk language: Thâkîwaki) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Sauk people, Sauk and Meskwaki, Meskwaki (Fox) American Indians in the United States, Indian peoples. They are ...
*
Chief Thunderbird Richard Davis Thunderbird (August 6, 1866 – April 6, 1946) was a Native American actor of Cheyenne descent known as Chief Thunderbird. He appeared in twenty films but was credited only in major films such as '' Wild West Days'' (1937), ''Fo ...
,
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
*
John Trudell John Trudell (February 15, 1946December 8, 2015) was a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as ''Rad ...
,
Santee Dakota The Dakota (pronounced , or ) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into the Eastern Dakota and the Wester ...
, activist, actor *
Sheila Tousey Sheila May Tousey (born June 4, 1959) is a Native Americans of the United States, Native American actress. Biography Born in Keshena, Wisconsin in 1959, Tousey is a stage and film actress of Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee descent. She was ra ...
,
Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...
, Stockbridge-Munsee *
Erica Tremblay Erica Tremblay (born 1980) is a Native American filmmaker from the Seneca–Cayuga Nation. Tremblay's debut feature film, ''Fancy Dance'' (2023), featured Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone and premiered at Sundance. She also wrote and directe ...
( Seneca-Cayuga), director, filmmaker * Ernest David Tsosie III (Diné), actor)


U

* Misty Upham, Blackfeet TribeSchmidt, Rob
"Blackfeet Actress Misty Upham On Filming 'Jimmy P.' with Benicio Del Toro."
''
Indian Country Today Media Network ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...
''. 30 Sept 2013. Accessed 1 Feb 2014.


W

*
Noah Watts Noah Watts (born December 29, 1983) is a Native American actor and musician, a member of the Crow Tribe, and a descendant of the Blackfeet Nation. He bears the Crow language, Crow name Bulaagawish, which means "Old Bull". Biography Noah Watts is ...
,
Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
/
Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation (, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana. Tribal members primarily belong ...
*
Floyd Red Crow Westerman Floyd Westerman (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007) was a Sisseton Dakota musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life he became an actor, usually depicting Native America ...
,
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation (), formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation, is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two subdivisions of the ''Isanti'' or Santee Dakota people. They are ...
* Richard Ray Whitman (Muscogee/Yuchi), actor, activist, artist * Bobby Wilson (aka Bobby Dues) (
Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation (), formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation, is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two subdivisions of the ''Isanti'' or Santee Dakota people. They are ...
), actor, comedian, writer


Y

*
James Young Deer James Young Deer (April 1, 1876 – April 6, 1946), also known as J. Younger Johnson or Jim Young Deer, was born James Young Johnson in Washington, D.C. Although he was identified in the early Hollywood trade paper ''Moving Picture World'' as of t ...
, Nanticoke, 1876–1946 *
Chief Yowlachie Chief Yowlachie (August 15, 1890 – March 7, 1966), also known as Daniel Simmons; was a Native American actor from the Yakama tribe in the U.S. state of Washington, known for playing supporting roles and bit parts in numerous films. He is ...
,
Yakama The Yakama are a Native Americans in the United State, Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in Eastern Washington, eastern Washington (state), Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally rec ...


See also

* List of Native Americans of the United States *
List of Indigenous Canadian actors This is a list of Canadian actors/actresses who are First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Métis people, Métis or Inuit. A * Evan Adams, Coast Salish * Paulina Alexis (Alexis Nakota) * Allakariallak, Inuit * Nathaniel Arcand, Plains Cree pe ...
* Indian Actors Association


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Native American Actors Native American
Actors An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
Native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...